Alphonso Mangoes of Ratnagiri

The Alphonso, called hapus in Marathi, is named after Afonso de Albuquerque, and it grows across India, but the fruit from the Konkan strip around Ratnagiri and Devgad is treated as a separate thing entirely and priced accordingly, with a geographical indication protecting the name. Growers attribute it to the laterite soil, the sea air and the sharp temperature swing between day and night on this coast. The season is short, roughly April to early June, and fruit is picked hard, packed in straw in wooden crates and ripened over days. Counterfeit labelling of ordinary mangoes as Ratnagiri hapus is widespread.

What you actually see

• The orchards - laterite hillsides of mango above the Konkan coast.
• The picking and packing - fruit cut with poles and layered in straw crates.
• The ripening - boxes held for days until the fruit softens and colours.
• The markets - graded fruit sold by count rather than weight.

When to go

April to June; the season peaks in May and ends quickly. Early-season fruit is expensive and often forced. Rain at the wrong moment can wreck a year's crop.

Honest expectations

Counterfeiting is rife and most fruit sold as Ratnagiri hapus is not. Prices at source are still high. Chemically ripened fruit is common and best avoided by buying from named growers.

Nearby

Ganpatipule lies north; Velas is up the coast.